1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of information handling systems and more particularly to an automated factory install printer test process.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more information handling systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
It is known to install software and to perform tests on information handling systems before they are shipped to businesses or individual customers. A goal of software installation is to efficiently produce a useful, reliable information handling system. Software installation often includes loading a desired package of software onto the information handling, preparing appropriate environment variables for the computer, and preparing appropriate initialization files for the loaded software.
When installing hardware and software onto multiple information handling systems in a manufacturing environment, identifying a unique software or hardware order across multiple information handling systems is desirable. A software order is unique if all the software parts and parameters that are installed in a system are unique in combination. A hardware order is unique when all of the hardware parts of that order are unique in combination.
Installable images have been identified as a means for reducing system setup times while also providing well tested, self contained packages to be deployed as a whole to a client system. To support flexibility in a build to order environment, a large number of images need to be created and refreshed. This is especially important when a new version of an operating system becomes available.
The testing of factory install packages for peripherals such as printers provides a unique challenge. Unlike other devices, the peripheral is not (and can not) be connected to a test machine during factory install download testing. Accordingly, to fully test that factory install packages are working as designed, a peripheral should be attached to the test machine after the download is completed to run the tests necessary to validate the factory install package. The peripheral then needs to be disconnected before the next download is executed. The need to disconnect the peripheral prevents the use of a test automation model where multiple downloads can be configured with automated tests executed between each download. As a result, testing of factory install packages for peripherals can involve a great deal of manual interaction.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a system which can perform an automated factory install peripheral test process.